DH : Build them Green
http://deccanherald.com/Content/May182007/realty200705172178.asp
Build them green
There is much more to green buildings than mere rainwater harvesting, waste-water recycling and solar power, writes Nandhini Sundar.
Many a time there is confusion about the concept of what encompasses a green building. It is quite common to consider a building termed green to simply incorporate factors like rainwater harvesting, waste-water recycling and perhaps use solar power to supplement its energy source. Anything beyond that is neither conceptualised nor expected.
What is hence overlooked is the green concept extends way beyond these to include a gamut of issues that are addressed not just to make buildings sustainable but also its immediate local environment while extending to the global level in the long run.
Rating systems have been developed in US and Europe to judge the extent of sustainable features that a green building has incorporated. The most popular of these and one that is actively adopted in India is the LEED system (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) of the US Green Building Council based at Washington.
Under this system points are awarded to projects based on the features that they have incorporated. The maximum number of points awarded is 69. A project receiving 52-69 points is awarded the platinum rating.
The concept of sustainable buildings encompasses four main issues that need addressing. These pertain to water, waste generation and recycling, energy consumption and site ecology.
When a building comes up on a site, the ecology of the site gets disturbed. For instance, the site may be a rocky one and hence require blasting to accommodate the building. Such blasting invariably impacts the site besides harming the foundations of adjoining buildings as well as upsetting the natural habitat of the site. A sustainable building takes into account the inherent nature of the site and accordingly takes steps to preserve it.
Thus, the rocks will be removed without blasting and used in the building. The quantum of the rocky terrain disturbed too will be minimal, just enough to accommodate the building with landscaping done around the existing rocks. Proper soil and sedimentation control will be in place with the landscaping structured to take care of rain water harvesting.
The second aspect is water, the quantum of fresh water used, the volume of waste water generation and the extent of rain water harvesting put in place. The CII-Godrej Green Business Centre, which is the first green building to have achieved the coveted platinum rating under the version 2 of the LEED rating system, has zero water discharge. This means that its structure is designed in such a way that not a drop of water goes waste. Waterless urinals, collection of every drop of rainwater in the campus besides recycling of waste water are some of its unique features.
It is estimated that nearly 35% of the energy generated are consumed by commercial buildings. Says SC Kumar, Senior Advisor, CII, “By changing the orientation of the building and its design, the lighting load as well as thermal comfort can be addressed leading to very significant savings in energy consumption.” The CII has achieved 90% energy efficiency in terms of lighting load through its design and orientation.
Energy efficiency is also achieved by using appropriate materials for insulating walls and roof. According to Kumar, double glazing of glass with Argon filling keeps out noise and heat. Here, 70 to 80% of light comes in but only 20% of heat enters. Kumar however, cautions against using too much glass in the building. “The extent of glass used should not exceed 40%.”
Maximising North-oriented glazing also helps in energy savings as North orientation minimises the heat gains from windows while allowing maximum daylight into the interiors.
The CII has used the Super Efficient Chiller which uses only one-third of energy that a conventional air conditioner would consume. The energy requirement too is supplemented with solar energy thereby reducing further the actual energy drawn.
It is important to use inputs that are capable of being recycled or are themselves recycled items. This indirectly saves energy besides being more eco-friendly. Thus, items such as fly-ash, recyclable steel and aluminium, Eco-board which is compressed sugarcane husk mixed with other wood products are some of the examples of recycled and recyclable products that can be used in construction to make buildings sustainable.
Apart from the above, there are other factors such as indoor environment, efficiency of space management that add to the green concept. It is important to ensure that the level of humidity, lighting, thermal comfort is right inside the building. The quality of fresh air inside the building is again important. Volatile compounds such as those released from the chemical components of paints should be totally absent in the air. To ensure this, Kumar advocates going in for water based distemper.
Similarly, the level of carbon-dioxide in the air can significantly go up especially when there is a large gathering. Sensors need to be deployed to keep its level low. The CII has sensors to monitor carbon dioxide levels in its conference hall.
Apart from the above features, certain external factors such as location of the building, accessibility to public transport, too have a say in determining the green factor. A building fed by an efficient public transport automatically gains points as it represents use of lesser number of private vehicles by employees, thus indirectly reducing the carbon emissions.
Besides conforming to the environment, green buildings have benefits that directly affect the occupants of the buildings. For instance, it is estimated that the interior comfort factor increases individual occupant’s productivity by 6-26%. It reduces respiratory illnesses by 9-20% while the level of absenteeism is less by 15%.
While a green building is all about sustainability and addressing environmental concerns, at times what is left unaddressed in the final product is the fact that buildings, besides being sustainable are also pieces of art, their architecture needing to reflect creativity and a finesse that is worthy of preservation.
Thus, you can have a building that is totally green, fulfilling all criteria, yet looking simply as a piece of brick and mortar, brought together to house an enterprise, a function. But there is nothing about it that sets it apart as unique or as a structure that has an individual character. It is also often misinterpreted that a green building, because of its unique features cannot successfully address art.
However, it would do well to keep in mind that creativity and art do not feature on the opposite side of sustainable architecture, the presence of one eliminating the prevalence of the other. One would simply have to browse through some of the green buildings that have come up around the world, their creativity and artistic character manifesting in all its unrestricted glory, to recognise this.
The writer can be contacted at nandy6488@yahoo.com
Build them green
There is much more to green buildings than mere rainwater harvesting, waste-water recycling and solar power, writes Nandhini Sundar.
Many a time there is confusion about the concept of what encompasses a green building. It is quite common to consider a building termed green to simply incorporate factors like rainwater harvesting, waste-water recycling and perhaps use solar power to supplement its energy source. Anything beyond that is neither conceptualised nor expected.
What is hence overlooked is the green concept extends way beyond these to include a gamut of issues that are addressed not just to make buildings sustainable but also its immediate local environment while extending to the global level in the long run.
Rating systems have been developed in US and Europe to judge the extent of sustainable features that a green building has incorporated. The most popular of these and one that is actively adopted in India is the LEED system (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) of the US Green Building Council based at Washington.
Under this system points are awarded to projects based on the features that they have incorporated. The maximum number of points awarded is 69. A project receiving 52-69 points is awarded the platinum rating.
The concept of sustainable buildings encompasses four main issues that need addressing. These pertain to water, waste generation and recycling, energy consumption and site ecology.
When a building comes up on a site, the ecology of the site gets disturbed. For instance, the site may be a rocky one and hence require blasting to accommodate the building. Such blasting invariably impacts the site besides harming the foundations of adjoining buildings as well as upsetting the natural habitat of the site. A sustainable building takes into account the inherent nature of the site and accordingly takes steps to preserve it.
Thus, the rocks will be removed without blasting and used in the building. The quantum of the rocky terrain disturbed too will be minimal, just enough to accommodate the building with landscaping done around the existing rocks. Proper soil and sedimentation control will be in place with the landscaping structured to take care of rain water harvesting.
The second aspect is water, the quantum of fresh water used, the volume of waste water generation and the extent of rain water harvesting put in place. The CII-Godrej Green Business Centre, which is the first green building to have achieved the coveted platinum rating under the version 2 of the LEED rating system, has zero water discharge. This means that its structure is designed in such a way that not a drop of water goes waste. Waterless urinals, collection of every drop of rainwater in the campus besides recycling of waste water are some of its unique features.
It is estimated that nearly 35% of the energy generated are consumed by commercial buildings. Says SC Kumar, Senior Advisor, CII, “By changing the orientation of the building and its design, the lighting load as well as thermal comfort can be addressed leading to very significant savings in energy consumption.” The CII has achieved 90% energy efficiency in terms of lighting load through its design and orientation.
Energy efficiency is also achieved by using appropriate materials for insulating walls and roof. According to Kumar, double glazing of glass with Argon filling keeps out noise and heat. Here, 70 to 80% of light comes in but only 20% of heat enters. Kumar however, cautions against using too much glass in the building. “The extent of glass used should not exceed 40%.”
Maximising North-oriented glazing also helps in energy savings as North orientation minimises the heat gains from windows while allowing maximum daylight into the interiors.
The CII has used the Super Efficient Chiller which uses only one-third of energy that a conventional air conditioner would consume. The energy requirement too is supplemented with solar energy thereby reducing further the actual energy drawn.
It is important to use inputs that are capable of being recycled or are themselves recycled items. This indirectly saves energy besides being more eco-friendly. Thus, items such as fly-ash, recyclable steel and aluminium, Eco-board which is compressed sugarcane husk mixed with other wood products are some of the examples of recycled and recyclable products that can be used in construction to make buildings sustainable.
Apart from the above, there are other factors such as indoor environment, efficiency of space management that add to the green concept. It is important to ensure that the level of humidity, lighting, thermal comfort is right inside the building. The quality of fresh air inside the building is again important. Volatile compounds such as those released from the chemical components of paints should be totally absent in the air. To ensure this, Kumar advocates going in for water based distemper.
Similarly, the level of carbon-dioxide in the air can significantly go up especially when there is a large gathering. Sensors need to be deployed to keep its level low. The CII has sensors to monitor carbon dioxide levels in its conference hall.
Apart from the above features, certain external factors such as location of the building, accessibility to public transport, too have a say in determining the green factor. A building fed by an efficient public transport automatically gains points as it represents use of lesser number of private vehicles by employees, thus indirectly reducing the carbon emissions.
Besides conforming to the environment, green buildings have benefits that directly affect the occupants of the buildings. For instance, it is estimated that the interior comfort factor increases individual occupant’s productivity by 6-26%. It reduces respiratory illnesses by 9-20% while the level of absenteeism is less by 15%.
While a green building is all about sustainability and addressing environmental concerns, at times what is left unaddressed in the final product is the fact that buildings, besides being sustainable are also pieces of art, their architecture needing to reflect creativity and a finesse that is worthy of preservation.
Thus, you can have a building that is totally green, fulfilling all criteria, yet looking simply as a piece of brick and mortar, brought together to house an enterprise, a function. But there is nothing about it that sets it apart as unique or as a structure that has an individual character. It is also often misinterpreted that a green building, because of its unique features cannot successfully address art.
However, it would do well to keep in mind that creativity and art do not feature on the opposite side of sustainable architecture, the presence of one eliminating the prevalence of the other. One would simply have to browse through some of the green buildings that have come up around the world, their creativity and artistic character manifesting in all its unrestricted glory, to recognise this.
The writer can be contacted at nandy6488@yahoo.com
posted by kubera at 9:43 AM
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